Trending Now

You are here

The case for arms in public schools

With the 24-hour news cycle, we are all well aware of the atrocities that occurred in Newtown, Conn. — where 20 children and seven adults were murdered, forever changing the lives of hundreds of children and families who once felt safe in their idyllic community. News pundits have since been casting blame at various groups. Although, if it were that simple, we'd all feel a whole lot safer today.
On that fateful day at Sandy Hook Elementary, the school put in place, as best they could, the lockdown procedures that had been practiced in the past. As a teacher, I myself have implemented similar procedures in my own classroom. I think it's safe to say that few teachers or students rarely do so with the mentality that such drills will actually be needed one day — although, we've all put ourselves in that position and questioned what we ourselves would do in such a situation. Nevertheless, the teachers didn't hesitate to do all they could to protect their students — going above and beyond providing an education, but sacrificing their own lives to save those of their students.
Your child's school surely has a similar policy for keeping "bad guys" out and keeping those inside safe. But if an Adam Lanza wants to inflict a nightmare on the innocent, all it takes is the breaking of glass and the firing of a gun. Locked doors, sign-in sheets, and mandatory name tags for all visitors will not deter.
Historically, statistics show that the only effective way to prevent or reduce incidents of shootings in large public places is by concealed carry. In 1997, Australia had a $500 million gun buy-back program which was followed by a ban on guns. This resulted in a 25 percent increase on assaults with guns and a 20 percent increase on murders with guns.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other lawmakers have called for Obama to take immediate action against guns — which no doubt means creating more laws to ban guns. The shooter in Newtown obtained his guns by stealing them. Connecticut has some of the strictest gun laws in America — when Lanza attempted to purchase his own gun, he was denied a permit. Just this past week, two firemen in Webster, N.Y. were lured to the burning home of an ex-convict, only to be murdered with a gun that never should have been in the hands of a felon. The murderer had spent 17 years in prison for murdering his grandmother. Gun control laws would never have prevented those deaths.
Implementing more gun laws will only restrict responsible gun users, since criminals have no regard for laws. The only thing that stopped Lanza from killing 36, 46, 56 children was another man with a gun. As the police narrowed in on him, he turned the gun on himself. Had a school personnel member been armed that day, maybe it wouldn't have cost the lives of 20 children and six teachers.
The President of the United States and his family never step foot anywhere without being surrounded by arms for protection. You should have the same right to effectively protect your family. How can we call ourselves a free people if we are ruled by tyrant criminals inflicting fear and terror upon us, with no means to protect ourselves? While police do everything they can, they are still limited by resources, time, and distance.
George Washington spoke truth when he said,"free people ought to be armed."